What do U think this is for?

[AIR-Quarius]

Hey ya'll I took three pictures of this 'cord'? and was wondering what it was or can be used for. At first I thought it was a converter for the house, but on the yellow end is printed 220/? anyway you will see if you zoom in. Thanks if you know what it is. I just thought the cord was in really good condition and was heavy duty. And you all know how we LOVE big strong electric cords!

[easyride]

20 amp 220 volt,I had a window shaker ac unit that used that,other end looks like a dryer plug. Dave

[wmarsha]

The male end of that cord is a 50 amp, 3 wire 240VAC plug. The female is a 6-20r; which is a 20 amp, 3 wire 240VAC receptacle. A fault (short) at the female end could draw 50 amps of current on each leg of the single phase 240VAC-causing either the 6-20r to melt/burn or the wiring to melt/burn. It is difficult to determine what gauge wire is in the photo, but normally, 50 amp requires #6 wire, whereas the 20 amp receptacle could be wired with #12. This cord is a "backwards" type of adapter and would be considered unsafe. To feed a 20 amp appliance or circuit from a 50amp source would require another fused disconnect (ie: a 20amp breaker or fuse) between this appliance or circuit and any device or wiring carrying 50 amps of current. The fused disconnect should always protect the wiring devices and the wire. Going from a 30 amp female receptacle to a 20 amp male plug would be an example of a "normal" adaptive method. The energy source amperage is less than any of the wiring devices or wire that it feeds. Most RV's have such a 20 amp source to 30 amp shore line adapter.

This deal has some tragedy built in...
ol' Bill

[markdoane]

The plug might also be a NEMA 10-20P, which would be legal for 125/250V - 20 amps. The blades are the same for the 10-20P (20a) and the 10-50P (50a). The difference is the size, the 10-50P is larger. Hard to tell in the picture.

[AIR-Quarius]

Next chance I get I will also go to a neighboring electrician and let him check it out...I was mostly just curious as to what it had been used for...like what was it running at some point and time...ok!

[Phoenix]

The connectors look like they were added to a 110v, 15 amp outdoor extension cord. (We have one that looks just like it.) I suspect that it is seriously under-rated for the connectors attached, and I suggest that you do not use it.

If you draw the max current that the connectors are rated for, the extension cord insulation will probably melt, the exposed wires will glow like a toaster, and then the whole thing will short together -- obviously, not a good thing.

If you want to salvage the cord and connectors, they should be disassembled and reused with the properly rated components. Otherwise, I'd cut off the ends so no one else can use it and recycle the copper.

[AIR-Quarius]

I'll dis assemble it tomorrow, the last thing anyone needs these days is one of those surprise electrical fires...years ago, my step dad was running an electric space heater in the bathroom...it over heated and started a fire inside the wall (it was one of those 70' X 12' trailer homes) and you should have been there to see him tearing out the wall with the axe in his underwear. (!)